Chapter 3: The Enlightened Ma Teng

  The third watch of the second night

  ——

  The old father did not make a statement on the spot and never replied to Yuan Shao and others.

  This is undoubtedly an extremely wise decision.

  The enemy is bright and I am dark, this is the ideal state.

  Besides, Yuan Shao and his men are fighting head-on, why should we Ma family expose ourselves?

  The most important thing is that he is in the east and I am in the west, so it's impossible to join forces. If we openly respond, there's no doubt that our family will be exposed on one side alone. From Luoyang to Chang'an, and from Chang'an all the way to Longxi, this entire line is under Dong Zhuo's control, especially Chang'an which is a key city in the northwest. At least 30,000 to 40,000 elite soldiers are stationed there. If we want to formally surround and attack the city, I estimate that it would take at least 500,000 to 600,000 troops to capture it. You should know that Chang'an is an ancient capital with a history of hundreds of years, its walls are high and thick, its moat is deep, and there's plenty of food stored inside the city. It's not something that can be easily conquered in a short period of time.

  Time has proven that Lao Die's decision was unprecedentedly wise, and can be called the ultimate masterpiece of Ma Teng's life-long strategy - although I don't think he would have thought it through so thoroughly beforehand.

  Last December 17th or 18th, Dad received another secret letter.

  This secret letter was actually sewn with golden thread, and the envelope also had a layer of dazzling gold light. As for the letter paper... it's not even a type of paper I've ever seen before. Although I've been "dancing with words" for over ten years and have come into contact with many types of paper, this kind of paper... is absolutely not something my Ma family could use, it must be imperial paper. The general meaning of the text is as follows:

  "Lang Zhongling Li Ru replaced Prime Minister Dong Zhuo and said:"

  Han Sui has been colluding with the Western Qiang to wreak havoc on Liangzhou for a long time. Although the imperial court had repeatedly dispatched troops to quell the rebellion, they were thwarted by the Yellow Turbans and unable to prevail. However, when the Prime Minister took charge, he relied on the General's bravery and martial prowess to defeat them in one battle. The rebels' followers all surrendered to the great Han dynasty, and the Emperor was overjoyed. Now, there is news that bandits are rising up in the eastern provinces, and they may head west to plunder. The troops in Luoyang and the capital's suburbs dare not move recklessly, and only hope that the General will personally lead elite soldiers to quell them. If victorious, it would be the greatest achievement for the Han dynasty; if defeated, the Prime Minister would block their way in Luoyang. The Prime Minister also eagerly awaits meeting with the sons of Liangzhou.

  The letter is well-written, belittling both the imperial court and Han Sui, while praising Dong Zhuo and my father. Later, it explains the temporary establishment of a unified front line, specifically stating that we should "lead the elite troops in person", implying that we are to be cannon fodder to consume the combined military's living forces, which will surely lead to our complete defeat! After that, Dong Zhuo gave an order and Lü Bu and Hua Xiong led the charge, leaving all the benefits for them. At most, they would give my family a few slightly better graves, setting up some valuable tombstones.

  The old man treated the messenger with great courtesy, and the wine and food were naturally not to be mentioned. He also agreed to Dong Zhuo's request for reinforcements.

  Three envoys who had accomplished their mission with full satisfaction galloped eastward on horseback.

  We gazed out at them from a distance in the west, watching as their silhouettes gradually disappeared into the horizon.

  I smiled secretly and felt quite satisfied in my heart.

  But Father didn't show any expression.

  He still sat tall on horseback, silently gazing at the horizon.

  His steed stood quietly, gently shaking its mane on the side of its neck.

  "Dad?" I couldn't help but call out.

  The old man slowly turned his head back, and there was a hint of strangeness in his eyes.

  "Haha," Ma Teng suddenly laughed too, he reached out to touch his chin whiskers, "How did I become so clever!"

  I blinked and asked: "What... thing?"

  The old man stroked his short beard and said with satisfaction: "I didn't agree to join forces with Yuan Shao to attack Dong Zhuo at first, what a wonderful move!"

  "Great move?" The two brothers of the Pang family and Ma Dian also heard Old Man's inexplicable silly smile, and slightly leaned in.

  "Does that mean we can play both sides and wait for an opportunity to strike?" Pang Rou's meaning was roughly to let us sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, or it could also be called "wall grass".

  "Wall grass? Is it necessary?" I blurted out.

  "Do you know what it means to be a husband?" Ma Teng asked with a slightly subdued expression, looking surprised.

  "Dong Zhuo is a scourge to the country and a trouble to the people. The heroes of the land have gathered to overthrow him, and this is the perfect opportunity to eliminate him. If we can destroy him in one fell swoop, we won't have to worry about his clan's power in Longxi again, and Liangzhou will truly belong to the Ma family." I'm just stating a simple fact - Dong Zhuo can't withstand the allied army anyway, so there's no need for us to hesitate.

  "Oh...... My father and I think alike." Ma Teng nodded, "Dong's villainy defies heaven, my family is a noble house, a righteous teacher, how can we possibly yield to him?"

  The two brothers of the Peng family strongly agree, but I don't think so: when they were weak, they didn't even dare to fart, now that their wings are a bit harder, they see others teaming up to fight BOSS and come to grab experience with a fawning attitude?

  Of course, what Justice Master and famous family heir... This title I do not want to lightly deny, after all we are now clearly justice! Just a moment ago overturned the rebel group Han Zhuo, rescued tens of thousands of people from the northwest from the midst of water and fire, even the imperial court commended us, it is only natural that we are justice! Famous family heir? ... We indeed all have the surname Ma, without any signs of tampering, Liu Bei can recognize the emperor as a close relative, why can't we acknowledge that our ancestors were a famous general Ma Yuan? Although I originally had no idea what activities General Ma Yuan did.

  Old Master said it's not wrong, our Ma family is very lucky to have a somewhat famous ancestor. At this moment, we can also stand up straight and say that we are the righteous army, the diligent king's army, determined to fight tirelessly for the liberation of the emperor until the whole army is defeated, even if we die ten thousand times without regret.

  Thus, these 25,000 proud soldiers continued their advance eastward.

  Twenty-five thousand?

  That's right, this is the number, which is more than half of our military strength.

  Before occupying Yongwu, Guangping had only one county under his control, with less than 20,000 soldiers who could be supported; the continuous small-scale conflicts over the years also constantly offset the occasional new recruits. After surrendering Jincheng, he conducted targeted selection of the surrendered army and barely made up for 30,000 people. Then after the victory, there were a small number of new recruits who joined the army in the name of victory, and during the month or so in Longcheng, they also recruited one or two thousand soldiers. Therefore, from the perspective of quantity, our total military strength is approximately around 35,000, claiming to be 40,000 - although it's unknown who this claim of 40,000 is intended to intimidate.

  This is really too difficult. Although Liangzhou is also one of the thirteen states of Eastern Han Dynasty, there are only 100,000 households in the recorded household registration, less than 500,000 people, which is not as good as a county in Yuzhou or Jizhou. Moreover, the northwest is barren and sparsely populated, with few arable land and even fewer farmers, and the available resources are limited. Coal, iron, and salt are not produced on a large scale, and it is easy to recruit soldiers in troubled times, but it is difficult to raise them. Liangzhou is the most difficult place to raise soldiers. I really can't imagine how General Han Sui supported 30,000 to 50,000 soldiers with the poor Jincheng County.

  What? Thirty to fifty thousand is an imaginary number? This kind of imaginary number is too unbelievable?

  Cough, cough, cough. The concept of virtual numbers is also important. Didn't something happen a few years ago? Han Sui and Ma Teng joined forces to invade the Three Auxiliaries, their sharp blades directly threatening the capital city of Luoyang. At that time, the imperial court was in a state of panic, with no one knowing what to do, so they had to let Dong Zhuo, who controlled tens of thousands of troops in Hedong, take charge as the commander-in-chief of the anti-bandit forces.

  Dong Zhuo's subordinates were all his own personally trained soldiers, and they were also the capital of his political career. Later, when the emperor was about to die, he refused to hand over his military power, and he cherished his soldiers even more. It can be said that they were relatively elite. He fought several battles with Huangfu Song and Han Sui Ma Teng, and barely repelled both sides. However, while pursuing Han Sui, he fell into the ambush of the brave and fierce Jincheng Qiang people, suffering significant casualties. Dong Zhuo himself escaped by using a clever tactic, and after returning, he was indeed promoted, which is understandable, since he had protected the safety of the capital.

  This chaos should not be small, and it is impossible to create such a big momentum without 20,000 or 30,000 people. Even if Han Sui's three to five million numbers are virtual, at most there are only a few thousand heads that are watered down. So I wonder: how can such a large army support itself for so long?

  Pang Rou told me that the answer was simple: there is only plundering.

  Plunder?

  This is indeed a simple and affordable method.

  Especially when the Yellow Turbans rose and fell, the court had long been corrupt, and it was already fortunate to be able to barely survive, let alone control the small skirmishes on the border.

  As a result, the world becomes more chaotic, the population decreases, but the army increases.

  ——

  Afternoon update